Cameroon’s digital development has struggled under the weight of slow public-service digitalisation, uneven network performance, limited cloud capacity and a mobile money sector controlled by a few dominant players. These issues have kept users frustrated and slowed the country’s ambition to build a competitive digital economy. CAMTEL itself has faced internal challenges that have made it difficult to compete at the pace required by today’s market.
Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi, General Manager of CAMTEL, and Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio Telecom signing partnership
A new three-year Master Service Agreement signed this December 4 between CAMTEL and Ethio Telecom aims to change this trajectory. The deal, formally concluded at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé, sets out a strategic partnership designed to tackle long-standing weaknesses and open the way to a more modern and inclusive digital ecosystem.
One of the most important elements of the agreement is the development and relaunch of Blue Money, CAMTEL’s mobile money service. Cameroon is already the largest mobile money market in CEMAC, holding more than 60 percent of all registered accounts and more than 75 percent of transaction value. But CAMTEL has never had a meaningful presence in this space, leaving millions of potential users with limited choice. Ethio Telecom’s experience is expected to make a difference. Its own mobile money platform, Telebirr, counts over 57 million users in Ethiopia, a sign of the technical know-how it brings to the partnership. If Blue Money is successfully rebuilt and deployed, it could introduce genuine competition and expand financial access, especially in areas still underserved by digital financial services.
Network modernisation is another key area targeted by the agreement. Despite progress, Cameroon’s connectivity remains inconsistent, and many users continue to rely on ageing infrastructure with limited 4G coverage. The MSA sets out plans to upgrade this network and prepare CAMTEL for 5G deployment, drawing on Ethio Telecom’s experience from its massive nationwide reforms and network expansion programme. This upgrade has the potential to improve service quality, strengthen digital businesses and make it easier for young innovators and content creators to thrive.
The partnership also tackles one of Cameroon’s persistent bottlenecks which is the slow digitisation of public services. State institutions still depend heavily on manual procedures that delay service delivery and limit transparency. As part of the solution, the agreement includes the creation of a sovereign Government Cloud that will host and secure national data within the country. This should give public institutions a modern base for delivering faster and more reliable digital services to citizens.
CAMTEL’s internal transformation is a central pillar of the MSA. The operator has acknowledged the need to strengthen its organisation, improve its information systems and build a stronger customer-focused culture. Ethio Telecom will support this shift through expert missions, capacity-building programmes, and technical mentoring, with the goal of helping CAMTEL teams develop the skills needed to sustain long-term change.
Ethio Telecom arrives with an impressive profile. With 131 years of experience, more than 16,000 employees, 86 million subscribers and revenues of 731 billion FCFA, it is one of Africa’s most experienced and well-established telecom operators. For CAMTEL, the partnership is a chance to draw from this depth and accelerate its own digital plans. It brings to the table its national fibre backbone, its role as Cameroon’s incumbent operator, and a footprint that reaches both urban and rural areas.
Both companies say their collaboration aligns with Africa’s Digital Transformation Strategy 2020–2030, which encourages countries to strengthen digital sovereignty, expand connectivity and adopt modern public-service systems. Their ambition is to help position Cameroon as a stronger digital hub for Central Africa.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Online
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